Mika Rottenberg and the Amazing Invention Factory

What are the stories we tell about objects? In this film, artist Mika Rottenberg considers a survey of her videos in which women work in factory-like settings to create handmade objects. Growing up in Israel, Rottenberg recalls not being exposed to commercials on television until she was a teenager; after moving to New York City, she encountered infomercials such as Ron Popeil's "set it and forget it" Showtime Rotisserie chicken oven. Fascinated by the stories surrounding these inventions, Rottenberg creates her own fabricated products as well as idiosyncratic fictions about the origins of objects. Populating her videos with women who have extreme physiques and who sell their services on the Internet—such as wrestling, squashing, and photo opportunities—Rottenberg's imaginary factories are run by people who "own the means of production." Throughout her videos Rottenberg draws the viewer’s attention to the architecture of the body and the psychological dimensions of labor and value. Featuring the works Tropical Breeze (2004), Mary's Cherries (2004), Dough (2005–06), and Squeeze (2010).